England v Belgium 5pm KO

Really looking forward to it. Line up seems a bit suspect to me. A back three of Walker, Dier and Maguire doesn't fill me with confidence. I like Maguire but he's badly out of form and probably confidence. Dier lacks concentration and will make mistakes, even if it's only picking up his marker. Walker at this moment is the best of them. TTA and Trippier as wing backs but Trippier out of position on his wrong side will I suspect means he checks back a lot. Henderson, Rice and Mount in centre mid, will they see enough of the ball, especially Mount to be able to feed balls into RashFord and DCL? We'll see. Big test coming up.
 
Bizarre selection. 3 right backs, Belgium must have a helluva left winger. Kyle Walker is a liability in defence and to leave Grealish out is just insane.
 
20togo said:
this mornings paper said he'd picked up a muscle injury. Think every player is named on the bench so although he's named he won't be fit. That's if the papers are right.
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Might do us a favour, the form DCL is in.
 
crazy stuff, No VAR, player offside, play continues Belgium score and goal then disallowed for offside when it wasn't. [but he was just]
 
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Bone headed challenge by Dier, poor pass by Rashford that could have led to a goal conceded.

It isnt just Blackpool these things happen to.
 
Rashford is a shadow of the player he was. Pickford is awful, as is Dier, Macguire and Walker.

And don't get me started on Henderson who should not be wearing an England shirt.

Southgate's man management is excellent, but that is where his skillset ends.
 
Next Goal WIns said:
Belgium are flowing while England look clunky and cumbersome.
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Yep, not enough movement up front for the ball carrier, hence the high number of sideways passes, then a hopeful lump upfield which Belgium are defending easily.

Goal attempts: 1 - 4

Not great to watch - oh a soft pen!!!
 
Lucky penalty but if defenfenders can`t keep their hands off the attackers they can`t complain.

Belgium look far more creative and incisive than we do.I don`t rate Rice or Dier and Mount who is supposed to be creative has done little so far .Give Grealish a run.
 
Survived their bit of pressure and playing quite well now. Not sure we've deserved to win, a draw would have been about right but overall a decent performance.
 
A good win. Better team in the second half. Southgate changed it and reduced Lukaku's threat. As I said, good win.
 
Soft penalty to say the least but I thought overall we played ok. Second half was much improved. Missed chances at both ends but a win is a win. Plenty of positives to take away from that
 
Some on here love to delude themselves.In any single game the result does not always accurately reflect the play and which if any was the better side but over an extended number of games the better side will almost always come out on top as in a season`s league table.

In today`s game I was delighted that we won,always am,but would have to suffer a severe delusion to kid myself that we were the better side.We had plenty of luck with both our goals(which in a game can work either way but tends to level out in the long run) and on another day will work the other way .

As said elsewhere a draw would have been a fairer reflection of the play overall but hey ho I am glad we won, it may well boost the team`s confidence. It will be interesting to see what happens when we play them in Belgium.
 
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Whatever you may think, an under strength England team beat an under strength Belgium team. It was a penalty because Henderson got himself into a position where the defender felt he had to hold onto him. Good, smart play.

England’s defence and defending improved significantly in the second half. And we got ourselves into a situation where luck could come into it.
Would I make us favourites to beat Belgium in a truly competitive game? Of course not. But England under Southgate keep getting results and that’s a good thing.
 
I enjoyed watching that, we have just beaten one of the best teams in the world. Certainly first half we were second best but not in the second half. They kept their shape, denied space to De bruyne and Lukaku, pressed higher up the pitch and there was really good individual performances. I believe it would be very close in a more competitive game.
 
I think that's a fair assessment Hoop. We all know where England are lacking, but tactically, Southgate and his team are far more fluid and willing to consider line ups and systems that give us the best chance of getting a result. And all done without (on paper) our most potent attackers.
 
A great result and very good second half performance against the no. 1 ranked team in the world!

Some encouraging signs especially with the players we had missing.
 
Ruperthoop said:
I enjoyed watching that, we have just beaten one of the best teams in the world. Certainly first half we were second best but not in the second half. They kept their shape, denied space to De bruyne and Lukaku, pressed higher up the pitch and there was really good individual performances. I believe it would be very close in a more competitive game.
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Yep, a good post.
I think people forgot we were playing the number one ranked team in the world and thought that somehow we should be able to go out and beat them with fast free flowing football.
 
20togo said:
Yep, a good post.
I think people forgot we were playing the number one ranked team in the world and thought that somehow we should be able to go out and beat them with fast free flowing football.
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There's definitely an element of people not being happy unless we play like Brazil 1970 in every game.
 
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